In professional settings such as schools, clinics and therapy rooms,  we often hear children described with shorthand labels: “bipolar,” “ADHD,” “oppositional,” “anxious.” These labels can feel useful. They allow adults to communicate quickly, allocate resources, or structure interventions.

But here’s the question few stop to ask: do labels help children, or do they help adults manage our own uncertainty?

Labels simplify complexity at a cost

A label provides a tidy story. It offers certainty where there is none. But children are not tidy. They are dynamic systems — biological, emotional, and social — interacting with the world in ways that are constantly changing.

The danger of labeling a child lies in the feedback loop it creates. Once a child is given a diagnostic label, every behaviour can be interpreted through that lens. Adults may unconsciously expect the behaviour to continue, and the child may internalise the label as part of their identity. The result? A self-fulfillin...

Where a New Story for Childhood Begins

There is a moment, usually quiet and unplanned, when you realise that the work you’ve been doing for decades has slowly grown into something bigger than you ever intended. Not because you mapped it out meticulously. Not because you forced it, but because it was ready. Because you were ready. Because the world needed it, even before you had the language for it.

My Play Protocol® was born in that kind of moment.

Not out of frustration with what exists, but out of a deep sense that something more was possible for children and for the adults supporting them. Not a shiny new method or a clever framework, but a way of being with children that feels human again. Honest. Uplifting. Grounded and refreshingly uncomplicated.

For years, I watched people who care deeply about children—parents, doctors, coaches, teachers, youth workers, community leaders—trying to navigate heavy emotional landscapes with tools that were never designed for everyday life. ...

If you’re a Kids Life Coach, you already know the magic that happens when children and families reconnect with curiosity, courage, and confidence. You witness small moments of growth, bravery, and connection and you know that coaching isn’t about fixing anyone, but about supporting transformation in a way that’s playful, relational, and meaningful.

Yet when it comes to talking about your own coaching practice, that same ease and playfulness can vanish. Marketing suddenly feels like a performance. We overthink the words, try to sound “professional enough,” or get stuck wondering if what we say will land with our clients.

I know that feeling well. At the start of my coaching career, almost two decades ago, I used to waffle a lot! Can you relate?

Then I started to wonder: what if sharing my work didn’t have to feel like me talking too much and listening too little? What if the same qualities I was bringing to my coaching sessions: curiosity, creativity, and genuine connection, could...

“What’s the life task here? Never mind what you want. What does life want?”

That question stopped me recently. I had been thinking about coaching sessions, programs, outcomes — all the things we want to achieve as children’s life coaches. Progress, impact, change. But the question shifted my focus completely. What if coaching isn’t always about what we plan or want to make happen? What if it’s more about listening to what life itself is asking of us in each moment?

In our work with children, structure gives us safety. We rely on session plans, frameworks, goals, and measurable outcomes. They help us feel prepared and give families confidence in the process. Yet, the truth we all know — quietly, somewhere underneath — is that the most powerful moments in coaching almost never happen according to plan.

They arrive in pauses, in detours, in those unexpected turns where a child says something that changes everything. Sometimes, it’s the question you didn’t expect to ask, or the silence ...

 Permission to rant!

One of my biggest pet peeves after working with children in various capacities for over two decades is this: when a teacher, parent, psychologist, or sports coach judges a child by their behavior and calls them a “bad kid.”

Even worse? When they declare:

“There is no hope.”
“They’ll end up in prison or dead.”

What the actual heck %$#*?? (Apologies for the sweary symbols...but this is how strongly I feel!)

Here’s the truth: bad behaviour does not equal a bad child. I have taught, counselled and coached tens of thousands of children over the past 25 years and not once have I met a "bad child"!

Children act out for reasons many adults often overlook out of ignorance. These reasons are all valid and rooted in neuroscience, emotional development, and unmet needs. When a child misbehaves, it’s rarely about defiance for its own sake. Often, it’s about communication, coping, or trying to meet a need they cannot articulate.

At Kids Life Studio®, you will hear our ...

How to Get Clients Without Trying So Hard

We’ve all been there. That awkward moment when someone casually asks the question:
“So, what do you do?”

In my early career as a Kids Life Coach, I used to stumble through the answer. I would try so hard to get people to understand my work that I often ended up overexplaining. To be honest, I’m blushing even now thinking about those awkward early conversations!

These days, my answer is pretty simple and playful:
“I play for a living.”

That one sentence sparks curiosity, creates conversation, and opens doors. Why? Because it’s authentic, aligned with what I do, and it invites people in rather than overwhelming them.

But it wasn’t always this way for me. Like many coaches, I used to believe that if I just explained enough, people would “get it” and sign up. The truth is, when we push too hard, we can come across as unsure, desperate, or even salesy none of which builds trust. I know this because I have personally made these mistakes!

Why S...

Building Rapport with Any Child: Lessons from Early in My Career

Early on in my career as a Kids Life Coach, I vividly remember a moment that tested me. I was working with a tween who clearly wasn’t interested in what I had to say. The eye roll. The smirk. The unmistakable “I’m not listening” vibe.

I had to stop myself from showing frustration. Inside, I felt judged and anxious. I desperately wanted to connect, to break through...but there was one thing holding me back: I didn’t yet understand the underlying reason why some children don’t respond well to coaching.

At that stage, I hadn’t yet learned the subtle strategies that allow a coach to build instant rapport, no matter the child’s mood, background, or temperament. Even with all my years as a teacher in some very difficult classrooms, I didn’t understand the science behind the resistance. I now now it is rarely about disrespect but it’s usually about unmet needs, fear, uncertainty, or simply not feeling understood.

At the t...

Usually when adults think of children who benefit from coaching, they often imagine those facing poverty, trauma, or adversity but what about children who appear to “have it all”? Can the Play Based Coaching System® we use as a global network of Kids Life Studio® Coaches help children who seem entitled? Those with wealth, access, and comfort at their fingertips? The answer is yes and here’s why.

Entitlement vs. Neglect

Entitlement and neglect may sound like opposites, but they can exist side by side. A child can be surrounded by material abundance and still feel profoundly neglected. That neglect doesn’t come from a lack of food, toys, or money but it comes from a lack of presence, connection, and guidance.

A few years ago, I worked with a 12-year-old girl whose story really showed me how true this is. Her fridge and kitchen cupboards were overflowing with food, her pocket money seemed endless, and she had every comfort. On the surface, she looked privileged, but she was morbidly ob...

 When it comes to guiding children, I often hear people who don't understand the work that I do ask: “What’s the difference between coaching and mentoring?” It’s a fair question, because both roles are deeply rooted in care, encouragement, and support. The truth is, there is space for both and I do both just with different children at different times. 

Mentoring: Everyday Moments of Guidance

Mentors always show up in the everyday corners of a child’s life. They are the teachers, relatives, neighbours, or community members who encourage, listen, and guide in real-time moments. Mentorship is about sharing wisdom, offering advice, and being that steady presence a child can lean on. It doesn’t need  a certification or a title. It just needs heart, availability, and the willingness to show up.

That’s what makes mentoring so powerful. It can happen anytime, anywhere, and it can change any child’s life in ways we might not even realise in the moment. Like the 10-year old girl that was cryi...

As the founder of Kids Life Studio® I am very blessed to have been coaching children myself since 2003 and training adults to coach children since 2009.

So often I get asked why my training is premium priced....

The answer is simple...

Premium quality + Premium mentorship + Premium research backed programmes + Premium outcomes + Premium results

When it comes to coaching children mediocrity is not the answer. World-class coaching comes with effort. I believe every parent and every child deserves a Kids Life Coach who has put in the appropriate work to achieve their certification.

Our global network of Kids Life Coaches who have participated in my training, know what it means to have grit and perseverance!

They do intensive training over no less than 3 months with individual and group support and they participate in weekly assignments, do a case study and submit a portfolio of evidence that gets assessed!!

They understand the value of investing into good education and they choo...